Speakers

Akshay Anand

Product Ambassador, ITSM

AXELOS Global Best Practice

Akshay Anand is a product ambassador at AXELOS, working on the development of new guidance and research within the ITSM portfolio. With experience from around the world, including US, UK, and India, he previously advised Fortune 100 clients on how to improve their ITSM capabilities, implemented toolsets such as Remedy and ServiceNow, and headed up global ITSM activities at Macmillan Publishing. More recently, Akshay has focused on bringing together Agile development teams and ITSM professionals to address challenges posed by emerging technologies and market shifts.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 1: Moving to ITIL4: Evolving, Not Replacing, Your ITSM Capabilities

Akshay Anand

Product Ambassador, ITSM

AXELOS Global Best Practice

Session: Breakfast Briefing 1: Moving to ITIL4: Evolving, Not Replacing, Your ITSM Capabilities

Akshay Anand

Product Ambassador, ITSM

AXELOS Global Best Practice

Session: Breakfast Briefing 1: Moving to ITIL4: Evolving, Not Replacing, Your ITSM Capabilities

Gerald Beaulieu

Director, Product Marketing

ServiceNow

Session: Solutions Spotlight: ServiceNow Mobile - Make Work Life as Great as Real Life

Liz Beavers

Senior Solutions Engineer - ITSM

SolarWinds

Session: Solution Spotlight: How Service Desk Automations Power a Modern Employee Experience

Pierre Bernard

Global ITSM Process Manager

IKO Industries Ltd.

Pierre Bernard is currently the Global ITSM Process Manager for IKO Industries Ltd. He has 34 years of experience in IT, seven of those as a service desk manager. He has extensive experience, knowledge, and expertise in service management, organizational change, business management, and continual service improvement. Pierre also holds numerous certifications, including ITIL Expert, AGILE Foundation, PRINCE2 Practitioner, Master Trainer/Facilitator, COBIT5, ISO/IEC 20000, and ISO/IEC 27000.

Session: Session 403: Service Management Journey at IKO Industries: Lessons from the First Year

Pierre Bernard

Global ITSM Process Manager

IKO Industries Ltd.

Pierre Bernard is currently the Global ITSM Process Manager for IKO Industries Ltd. He has more than 35 years of experience in IT, with extensive experience, knowledge, and expertise in service management, organizational change, business management, and continual service improvement. Pierre holds numerous certifications, including ITIL Expert, AGILE Foundation, PRINCE2 Practitioner, Master Trainer/Facilitator, COBIT5, ISO/IEC 20000, and ISO/IEC 27000. Pierre has also written numerous ITSM-related books.

Session: Session 304: The Service Management Journey at IKO Industries: Lessons from Year 2

Charles Betz

TBD

Forrester

Charles Betz is a principal analyst serving Infrastructure & Operations Professionals; he covers enterprise service management and digital operational excellence. This includes topic areas such as service portfolio management, service catalog, IT asset management, application discovery and dependency mapping, knowledge management, configuration management, and CMDB as well as industry frameworks like ITIL, IT4IT, and COBIT.%MCEPASTEBIN%

Session: Session 106: State of the ESM market, 2019

Brad Biagi

Senior IT Manager

First American

Brad Biagi is a highly accomplished and enthusiastic management professional with a strong technical background and customer focus, as well as a relentless passion for innovative training management, project implementation, process improvement, and customer value. Brad is currently the manager of First American’s IT Service Desk, where he leads, manages, and directs technical support across the enterprise in a follow-the-sun, worldwide operation. Brad also focuses on process improvement, training, and implementation to deliver strikingly impressive customer service. Follow Brad on Twitter @biagitec2.

Kyle Boatsman

Program Manager

Texas A&M University

Kyle Boatsman is a PM and Change Manager at Texas A&M University. He's implemented new programs in areas of IT security, risk, and compliance and been deeply involved in the development of his organization's change management process. A bit of a "fixer," he loves to take on big challenges and tinker with processes to mature and improve service delivery. Kyle has a PMP, MPA, and extensive experience in the higher ed. and non-profit sectors.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 3: Road Trip!: Destination, Change Management

Darrell Bond

Business Associate

HDI

Darrell Bond is one of the founding partners of RADAR Solutions Group Inc., a services management consulting and training provider focused on creating service excellence. In his 35+ years experience, Darrell has helped many service organizations achieve success through business planning, service optimization and process improvement initiatives. As faculty trainer for HDI, Darrell has shared his knowledge, experience and passion for quality service with directors, managers, team leaders and front-line staff from organizations around the globe. In his role as an auditor for HDI's Support Center Certification Program, Darrell drives continual service improvement, the backbone to the success of all service organizations.

Rae Ann Bruno

Principal

Business Solutions Training

Rae Ann Bruno is the president of Business Solutions Training, Inc., where she consults and trains in various areas of ITIL, KCS, communications, internal marketing, metrics, and process improvement. Rae Ann holds several ITIL certifications, is a faculty trainer for HDI, and is the author of "Translating IT Metrics into Business Benefits" and "What Have You Done for Me Lately? Creating an Internal Marketing Culture." She is also a member of the HDI International Certification Standards Committee.

Session: Session 203: The Konmari Approach to Improving Service Delivery

Rae Ann Bruno

Consultant

Business Solutions Training (and Consulting)

Rae Ann Bruno is the President of Business Solutions Training, Inc (BST), an organization focused on training and consulting in various areas of improving the customer experience, ITIL, Knowledge-centered Service (KCS), Service Desk Improvement, Internal Marketing, Metrics and ITIL Process Improvement.    Rae Ann was inducted into the HDI Hall of Fame in 2017 and was named one of Cherwell’s IT Legends that same year. She holds several ITIL and HDI certifications and is a Business Associate for HDI ITIL and Support Center certification courses and consulting.  She is a member of the HDI International Standards committee and is a frequent speaker at leadership and support conferences and the author of the HDI focus books, Translating IT Metrics into Business Benefits and What Have you Done for Me Lately?  Creating an Internal Marketing Culture.

Session: Pre-3: Three-day Workshop: ITIL® 4 Foundation: Accredited
Pre-3: Three-day Workshop: ITIL® 4 Foundation: Accredited
Pre-3: Three-day Workshop: ITIL® 4 Foundation: Accredited

Rae Ann Bruno

Consultant

Business Solutions Training (and Consulting)

Session: Pre-3: Three-day Workshop: ITIL® 4 Foundation: Accredited
Pre-3: Three-day Workshop: ITIL® 4 Foundation: Accredited
Pre-3: Three-day Workshop: ITIL® 4 Foundation: Accredited

Rae Ann Bruno

Consultant

Business Solutions Training (and Consulting)

Session: Pre-3: Three-day Workshop: ITIL® 4 Foundation: Accredited
Pre-3: Three-day Workshop: ITIL® 4 Foundation: Accredited
Pre-3: Three-day Workshop: ITIL® 4 Foundation: Accredited

Matthew Burrows

President

BSM impact Inc

Matthew Burrows has served on numerous industry bodies, including as president of the Institute of Service Management, chair of itSMF International's Ethics Review Board, Management Board member for itSMF UK, authoring team for the PMI Program and Portfolio Management standards, and member of the ITIL Change Advisory Board. He's an ISO/IEC 20000 qualified consultant and auditor, a SFIA-accredited Consultant and Trainer, and a member of the SFIA Council and the SFIA Global Design Authority. Matthew is in demand as a speaker and author, whose credits include SFIA (Skills Framework for the Information Age) and service management, portfolio, and program management methodologies, white papers, books, and articles.

David Cannon

EVP

Nfiniti3

David Cannon is known for crafting industry best practices for strategy and IT operations, which he uses to make organizations function more effectively and efficiently. He has led consulting practices in Forrester, Hewlett-Packard, and BMC Software, creating effective operating models that exploit both business and technology capabilities in integrated solutions. David believes that successful digital strategy is an enterprise initiative that integrates technology from multiple internal and external sources to achieve business success. He is the coauthor of the ITIL 2007 Service Operation book and the ITIL 2011 Service Strategy book, and he was awarded two lifetime achievement awards by itSMF.

Session: Session 305: Strategy: Plain and Simple

Michael Cardinal

Practice Manager

TEKsystems

Michael Cardinal has over 20 years' experience in IT and education, having worked as a manager, consultant, analyst, and trainer/teacher. A practice manager, ITIL Expert, and Certified Process Design Engineer, Michael's resume spans several industries, including insurance, manufacturing, retail, food service, and education. Michael has also spoken at several IT and academic events, and he has published white papers on how to begin an ITSM implementation.

Session: Session 604: Measure Twice, Cut Once, Make it Fit?: Measurement and Metrics Lessons Learned

Evan Carlson

VP

EasyVista

Evan Carlson joined EasyVista in 2010 to establish the North American business and currently serves as the VP of Sales for North America. In this role, Evan is responsible for growth strategies focusing on new customer acquisition, existing customer expansion, and partner enablement. He specializes in innovative strategies that ensure customer success and empower highly motivated sales teams. Evan establishes long-term customer relationships and takes pride in developing talent, he continuously leads North America to exceptional sales growth and shareholder value. In addition, Evan remains actively involved in IT industry organizations, such as HDI, where he started the Rhode Island Local Chapter. Before EasyVista, Evan held leadership roles for high-tech organizations including OPNET, Optinuity and Visual Networks.

Session: Real World Successes with Shift-Left Strategy

Carlos Casanova

Author, Speaker, Solutions Architect

Casanova Advisory Services

Carlos Casanova is the president and solutions architect for Casanova Advisory Services, Inc., and the coauthor of The CMDB Imperative: How to Realize the Dream and Avoid the Nightmares. He is an internationally known speaker, IT architect, and leadership advisor with more than two decades of hands-on experience guiding CIOs and senior leadership to achieve effective IT operations and improve ROI from infrastructure investments. His expansive experience enables him to quickly assess their true needs and achieve better business outcomes. He takes the complexity out of today's cluttered IT and business environments to simplify their goals in order to accelerate achievement and success.

Session: Session 505: System Thinking: The Keystone to CMDB Success

Brandon Caudle

Senior IT Manager

First American Corp

Brandon Caudle is a veteran of the Service and Support industry, building and leading virtual teams in a 24x7 support environment across geographies and time zones. As a Customer Experience Visionary, he is known for crafting and implementing best practices to solve challenging issues, increase Customer and Employee Satisfaction, while aligning with business needs. Brandon is a senior manager at First American in Orange County, California, and currently serves as the Chair of the largest technical service and support association in the world, HelpDesk Chapters, Inc. He can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandoncaudle/

Randy Celaya

Learning and Development Business Consultant and Personal Development Coach

<div>Randy Celaya is an independent, sought-after virtual executive coach, instructor, and keynote speaker in the IT Support, Contact Center, and Service Management industry.</div><div> </div><div>Randy's natural gift to motivate and bring enthusiasm to others is infectious. Whether coaching, training and developing professionals, or consulting with corporations, he strives to help others promote their best self's. Randy began his career as a technical support professional and IT Support /Contact Center Manager. He was the Director of IT Services for PetSmart and Director of Education for Support Technologies. In 2006 Randy co-founded Results Focused Training Corporation and acts as the Founder and CEO for The Coaching Bridge.</div><div> </div><div>Randy was critical in the conception and creation of the help desk industries first training and certification programs Since 1998, Randy has educated thousands of business professionals globally and continues to consult and educate virtually with IT service desks, contact centers, and service and support teams around the world. He frequently writes top trending articles for Support World Magazine, and is a sought-after guest speaker and judge panelist for service and support industry conferences and events. In 2007 Randy was asked to join the National Facilitator Database (NFDB) reserved for speakers who are among the best in their industry.</div>

Session: Pre-2: Three-day Training: Support Center Manager
Pre-2: Three-day Training: Support Center Manager
Pre-2: Three-day Training: Support Center Manager

Randy Celaya

President and Founder

The Coaching Bridge

Mr. Celaya is a keynote event speaker and Instructor with 17 years of support center industry experience. Randy has been recognized as a strong motivator, results focused coach and effective communicator working with groups or individuals to achieve success. Mr. Celaya has worked extensively with Help Desks and Call Centers around the world to develop and train Professional to Director level positions in Customer Support, Critical Thinking, Team Building, and Problem Solving skills. Randy was critical in the conception of one of the Help Desk industries most recognized certifications in the support services industry. Randy has served as the Keynote speaker at Help Desk and Call Center events around the world.

Randy Celaya

Learning and Development Business Consultant and Personal Development Coach

Session: Pre-2: Three-day Training: Support Center Manager
Pre-2: Three-day Training: Support Center Manager
Pre-2: Three-day Training: Support Center Manager

Randy Celaya

Learning and Development Business Consultant and Personal Development Coach

Session: Pre-2: Three-day Training: Support Center Manager
Pre-2: Three-day Training: Support Center Manager
Pre-2: Three-day Training: Support Center Manager

Chris Chagnon

ITSM Architect

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)

Chris Chagnon is an ITSM application and web developer who designs, develops, and maintains award-winning experiences for managing and carrying out the ITSM process. Chris is currently a PhD candidate studying information systems with a focus on user and service experience. As one of HDI's Top 25 Thought Leaders, Chris speaks nationally about the future of ITSM, practical applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, gamification, continual service improvement, and customer service/experience.

Session: Session 204: Making an Award-Winning Portal the WPI Way

Chris Chagnon

IT Service Management Architect

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Chris Chagnon is an ITSM application and web developer who designs, develops, and maintains award-winning experiences for managing and carrying out the ITSM process. Chris has a Master of Science in Information Technology, and a bachelor's degree in Visual Communications. In addition, Chris is a PhD Candidate studying Information Systems with a focus on user and service experience. As one of HDI's Top 25 Thought Leaders, Chris speaks nationally about the future of ITSM, practical applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, gamification, continual service improvement, and customer service/experience. Follow Chris on Twitter @Chagn0n.

Sam Chatman

VP, Managing Director Operational Excellence

OneMain Financial

Sam Chatman is a technology professional with 35 years of experience in the IT industry. He joined OneMain Financial in 2002 as a development manager, working his way up in the organization to head the operational excellence department. Prior to joining OneMain, he worked at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of NC, PNC Mortgage, Andersen Consulting, American Trans Air, Electronic Data Systems, ChemLawn, and HH Gregg.

Session: Session 104: The Long Road to Operational Excellence: OneMain's Transformational Journey

Robert Cheyne

ITSM Process Manager

Texas A&M University

Robert Cheyne is a dedicated IT professional with more than 30 years of experience in IT, with more than 20 years working in higher education specifically. He is currently the ITSM Process Manager for Texas A&M University's Division of Information Technology, where he serves as change manager, asset manager, and configuration manager, among other duties. He also has considerable experience in ITSM generally, ITIL, business relationship management, business analysis, project management, process improvement, ServiceNow, customer service, problem-solving, and system administration.

Session: Session 202: Taming the CMDB Beast

Chi-Cheng Chu

Manager of Information Services

North York General Hospital

Chi-Cheng Chu is a results-oriented leader with more than 20 years of experience in IT, currently focusing on enterprise service management, risk management, process improvement, and value realization. Chi-Cheng holds multiple certifications – HDI Support Center Director, C|CISO, PMP, and others – and often presents innovative solutions and outcomes in global conferences.

Session: Session 603: Innovative Service Management: From Reactive to Proactive

Dean Clayton

SMAX Product Manager

Micro Focus

Dean has been involved with Service Management for just over 20 years. Starting his career with AT&T, Dean worked at all levels of IT Support and Service delivery before joining HP in 2005 as a Service Management consultant helping design and implement solutions to fit customer’s needs for 10 years. After 3 years in presales, and joining Micro Focus, Dean moved into a Customer Success role to help customers and partners working with Micro Focus solutions. In 2018 Dean became a member of the Micro Focus SMAX product management team.

Session: Solution Spotlight: Differentiate Your Service Desk with MAX, the Smart Virtual Agent

John Custy

Services Management Education, Consulting and Training

JPC Group

John Custy is a services management authority with extensive experience helping organizations improve their services delivery, become more strategic, and increase value. He is an internationally known speaker and educator who challenges us to think differently. John received his MA from Boston University and his BS from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. In addition, he has earned his ITIL Manager, ITIL Expert, ISO 20000 Consultant, KCS Consultant, and Kepner-Tregoe (KT) certifications. He is also a member of the HDI Faculty and the HDI International Certification Standards Committee. John Custy is the 2015 recipient of the Ron Muns Lifetime Achievement Award and was also recognized as an IT Industry Legend by Cherwell Software.

Session: Pre-1: Three-day Training: Support Center Director
Pre-1: Three-day Training: Support Center Director
Pre-1: Three-day Training: Support Center Director

John Custy

Services Management Education, Consulting and Training

JPC Group

Session: Pre-1: Three-day Training: Support Center Director
Pre-1: Three-day Training: Support Center Director
Pre-1: Three-day Training: Support Center Director

John Custy

Services Management Education, Consulting and Training

JPC Group

Session: Pre-1: Three-day Training: Support Center Director
Pre-1: Three-day Training: Support Center Director
Pre-1: Three-day Training: Support Center Director

John Custy

Managing Consultant

JPC Group

John Custy is a services management authority with extensive experience helping organizations improve their services delivery, become more strategic, and increase value. He is an internationally known speaker and educator who challenges us to think differently. John received his MA from Boston University and his BS from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. In addition, he has earned his ITIL Manager, ITIL Expert, ISO 20000 Consultant, KCS Consultant, and Kepner-Tregoe (KT) certifications. He's also a member of the HDI Faculty and the HDI International Certification Standards Committee. John Custy is the 2015 recipient of the Ron Muns Lifetime Achievement Award and was also recognized as an IT Industry Legend by Cherwell Software.

Session: Session 401: ITIL4: What's the Fuss All About?
Solution Spotlight: How to Optimize Your Service Management

Sean Davis

Chief Transformation Evangelist

Equifax

Sean Davis, founder of Sean As A Service, is an industry veteran with 20 years of experience covering every realm of IT. Approaching problems with childlike wonder, leveraging a library of skills as a polyglot and solving the unsolvable is his day-to-day. Sean's current areas of focus are technical leadership, DevOps and Agile coaching, life coaching, and business transformation.

Session: Session 506: The Missing Drip: Identifying Skill Gaps with Paint

Tony Denford

Director, Research

Info-Tech Research

Tony Denford has spent his career specializing in ITSM and process improvement, with a focus on developing and maturing service and Lean management practices. During his career, he has been a writer, speaker, consultant, and educator specializing in ITIL, ITSM, Lean, and continuous improvement. Tony has more than 30 years of experience in the IT field and more than 25 years focused on consulting in IT management. Tony provides consulting to organizations of all sizes, focusing on service strategy, design, transition, operation, continual service improvement and Lean IT.

Session: Session 103: Understanding and Delivering Customer Value

Marie DiRuzza

Director, Campus Technology & Media Services

Mount Holyoke College

Marie DiRuzza is a nationally recognized leader in the service and support industry with more than 20 years of progressive IT leadership experience, driving the adoption of ITSM best practices. Marie has served in various volunteer roles, including as an HDI local chapter and national officer, a Cherwell Education SIG chairperson, and an EDUCAUSE Service Catalog Working Group member. She holds a BA in mathematics and professional certifications in project management (WPI CPE), ITIL Foundations v3, HDI Help Desk Manager, and CCL LDP. She was the 2016 recipient of the HDI Manager of the Year Award, and her team received the Best Portal Design Award at the Cherwell Global Conference 2017 and was a finalist for the Best Use of Technology Award at the HDI 2019 Conference & Expo.

Phyllis Drucker

Senior Consultant

Linium

Phyllis Drucker is senior consultant and information leader at Linium with more than 20 years of experience in service management. She holds numerous industry certifications, including ITIL Expert and VeriSM, as well as being an international speaker and author. Phyllis is a recognized expert on the service request catalog, and she was an early adopter of enterprise service management, first applying service management capabilities to HR, finance, accounting, and contracting in a shared service center environment in 2006. Since her first speaking engagement in 1997, Phyllis has helped to advance the service management profession of leaders and practitioners worldwide by providing her experience and insight on a wide variety of topics.

Session: Session 507: Big Data or Big Brother? Optimize Service with Predictive Analytics
Session 402: The Power of Operating Models Across the Enterprise

Jim Dulle

Vice President - Operations & Information Technology

First American

A seasoned professional with more than 20 years of experience, Jim Dulle has a rich background in Fortune 500 financial services technology evaluation and implementation, new business development, program and project management, and P&L management. After overseeing technology implementation and operations resources for two other large title insurance underwriters, he joined First American Title's Corporate IT team in 2013 serving in roles as Engagement Director and as Vice President, Enterprise Management. He then transitioned to his current position as Vice President, Operations and Information Technology for the company's direct title operations in January of 2018.

Karen Ferris

Consultant

Karen Ferris

Karen Ferris is a self-professed organisational change management rebel with a cause. In 2011, Karen authored the acclaimed publication Balanced Diversity: A Portfolio Approach to Organisational Change, which introduced a new and innovative framework for ensuring that changes are embedded into the fabric of the organisation. Last year saw the publication of her second book, Game On! Tactics to Win When Leading Change Is Everyones Business, introducing the tactics needed to be resilient and enable your organization to triumph in the face the challenges of constant change. In 2014, itSMF Australia bestowed her with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to the industry, and for the last four years, she has been voted one of the Top 25 Thought Leaders in Service Management by HDI.

Session: Session 404: Constant Change Requires Adaptive Leadership

Erika Flora

Principal

BEYOND20

Erika Flora is a senior advisor and principal with BEYOND20. For more than 15 years, Erika has worked with global IT organizations to improve how they work. She is a certified ITIL Expert who holds a number of other best practice certifications. She received her MS in microbiology from the University of Florida and is the author of Demystifying Agile, Scrum, and IT Service Management, as well as the lead editor for the upcoming ITIL4 publication, "ITIL Leader: IT and Digital Strategy."

Session: Session 101: How ITIL, DevOps, and Lean Drive Today's Digital and Agile Organizations

Paul Fordiani

Continual Improvement Manager

Acuity, Inc

Paul Fordiani, CGEIT, is an ITSM and continual improvement professional with decades of experience across industry, Department of Defense, and government operations. He was one of the authors of the Department of Defense Enterprise Service Management Framework, and he was a member of the US Technical Advisory Group's review of ISO 20000-1:2011. He's been an ISO 9001 and ISO 20000 auditor, as well as an implementation and compliance consultant, and he's worked as a software developer, database administrator, technical program manager, and process improvement specialist. Paul's also been a senior member of several service desk automation transformation efforts, most recently for a Fortune 100 financial services corporation located in Northern Virginia.

Session: Session 301: Standards-Based, Process-Driven Service Improvement

Ben Forrest

Principal Technical Trainer

ServiceNow

Ben Forrest is a 20-year veteran of the training, IT, and shared services worlds. As an instructional designer and enablement trainer at PlayStation, he spent 13 years helping internal development teams and partner studios learn how to make the most of their resources using the ITIL framework, among other tools and systems. As a Principal Technical Trainer at ServiceNow, he now does the same for companies large and small around the world.

Session: Session 204: Asset, Governance, and Security Walk into a Bar: Defining and Refining an Asset Management Strategy

Brian Fox

Program Director

Sitel

Coming Soon!

Session: Breakfast Briefing 2: ITSM: You're Doing It Wrong!

Ruben Franzen

US Sales Manager

TOPdesk

Session: Solution Spotlight: How to Achieve True Off-Boarding Ease

Reni Friis

Partner

Valcon

Reni Friis has 20 years of experience in the IT industry, most of it in the ITSM domain. She's been a consultant for the past 10 years; her main area of expertise is processes, and she is an active contributor to both the Lean IT, DevOps, VeriSM, and SIAM communities.

Session: Session 501: Using SIAM When Adoping DevOps Practices

Chris Gallacher

Principal Consultant

Forrester

Chris is a principal consultant in Forrester's North American Strategy consulting practice focused on helping organizations develop their service management strategy as well as applying CX principles to IT service delivery. Chris also advises clients around best-practice use of cloud computing, next-generation IT platforms and automation. He has over 15 years industry experience including 5 years working in consulting roles. Prior to joining Forrester, Chris was a principal consultant in the IT practice of PA Consulting Group, helping clients implement IT service management programs. Chris also spent 10 years at BP in multiple roles within its Global Infrastructure and Operations group. Chris received his Master's in business information technology from Middlesex University in London; he's also a certified ITIL Expert, CISSP, and TBM Executive

Chris Gardner

Office of the CIO, Integrated Service Operations Technology Lead

Cargill

Chris Gardner has been a leader in the IT industry for more than 30 years, and has been driving improvements in the ITSM field for nearly 15 years. He has led the design and implementation of service management programs and processes in multiple global organizations. In addition, Chris has led the selection and management of technology solutions to support and enable service management program requirements and to improve capabilities. He also holds certifications in ITIL Expert (v2011), COBIT (v5), and CPDE.

Vincent Geffray

Senior Director

Everbridge

Vincent Geffray is Senior Director of Product Marketing with focus on IT Incident Response Automation, IT Service Alerting, team Collaboration and Process Orchestration at Everbridge. He has over seventeen years of experience in Digital Transformation, IT Operations and Service Management with expertise in Critical Communications, Application Performance Management, IT Process, Runbook and Workload Automation. Vincent has an international experience, has worked in Europe and in North America and has spoken at many IT Industry Conferences.

Session: IT's Time To (Re)gain Control On Your Performance

Jayne Gerlach

Group Manager Restaurant Technology Support

The Wendys Company

An accomplished manager and leader with equal passions for customer delight, employee satisfaction and process efficiencies, I've worked in the support industry at multiple software and quick-service restaurant companies and have a combined 25 years of experience in support centers. On the process efficiencies side, I have been instrumental in implementing ITSM tools at multiple companies, most recently Cherwell at Wendy's. I was the Group Manager, Restaurant Technology Support at Wendy's and responsible for developing processes, tools, relationships and teams to provide 7x24 world-class technical support. I've led the team's growth from 17 to 135 people supporting 3032 corporate and franchise restaurants. Before joining Wendy's, I worked at GXS (now OpenText) managing the support team (54 employees) delivering support to our global customers and Sterling Commerce (now IBM) leading a variety of global teams supporting 15,000 individuals and businesses.

Session: Session 205: Getting It Done Right: Solving Common Problems and Achieving Greater Efficiency

Suresh GP

Managing Director

TaUB Solutions Pte Ltd

Suresh GP is the founder and managing director of TaUB Solutions. He has more than 18 years of experience in service management, IT governance, Agile, DevOps, and business relationship management. He is regular blogger and speaker in international forums, like itSMF, DevOps Institute, PMI, and ISACA, as well as the regional leader for Asia Pacific and the Middle East for the BRM Institute. Suresh was recognized by HDI as one of the Top 25 Thought Leaders in Support and Service Management in 2017 and 2018. He's also earned a wide range of certifications, including ITIL V3 Expert, DevOps Leader, CGEIT, CBRM, CASM, PMP, ISO 20000 Practitioner, and ISO/IEC 20000 & 27001 Lead Auditor. Follow him on Twitter @sureshgp.

Kevin Griggs

Director, Service Delivery

KPMG US, LLP.

Kevin Griggs is currently the director of service delivery for KPMG US, LLP, where he's responsible for the performance management and reporting function and the internal service desk. He received his MBA from the Gouizeta School of Business at Emory University, and he holds numerous industry certifications, including ITIL v3 Expert, CGEIT, and PMP.

Session: Session 503: Don't Just Report on Your Data—Act on It!

Valence Howden

Principal Research Director

Infotech Research Group

Valence Howden is a principal research director in the CIO Practice at Info-Tech Research Group. He has extensive experience helping organizations drive success by optimizing how they govern themselves, how they design and execute strategies, and how they drive service excellence. With 30 years of experience in the public and private sector, Valence has developed experience in many information management and technology domains, with a particular focus in the areas of service management, enterprise and IT governance, strategy development and execution, risk management, metrics and process design, and implementation and improvement. Prior to joining Info-Tech, he served in technical and client-facing roles at Bell Canada and CGI Group Inc., as well as managing the design, integration, and implementation of services and processes in the Ontario Public Sector.

Lou Hunnebeck

Prinicipal Advisor

DXC Technology

An ITIL Expert with more than 30 years of experience in service industries, Lou Hunnebeck is a principal advisor at DXC Fruition. Her passion for improving how we do what we do has led her to ITSM from a background of process, training and systems consulting. Devoted to advancing the art and practice of ITSM, Lou served as the author of the ITIL 2011 Service Design publication, and as a member of the Architect Team and as an author for the ITIL Practitioner Guidance publication. She is currently on the Senior Examination Panel for ITIL, serves on the Lead Architect Team for the current ITIL4 update, and speaks regularly at industry meetings to spread the message of ITSM.

Session: Session 602: Practical and Political Challenges to Enterprise Service Management

Lou Hunnebeck

Prinicipal Advisor

DXC Technology

An ITIL Expert with 30 years in service industries, Lou Hunnebeck is a principal advisor at DXC Technology. Her passion for improving how we do what we do brought her to ITSM from a background in process consulting, training, and ITSM systems consulting. She is the author of the ITIL Service Design 2011 Edition, senior architect/coauthor for the ITIL Practitioner Guidance publication, lead architect for ITIL 4 Foundation, and lead editor on the recent ITIL 4 Direct, Plan & Improve publication.

Session: Session 106: This Isn't What We Meant! Setting and Managing Expectations

Amy Hutchens

Award-Winning Speaker, Author, and Business Strategist

A former executive of a billion-dollar global consumer products company, Amy K. Hutchens is a dynamic, energetic catalyst for driving businesses forward faster. AmyK travels the globe coaching executives, influencers, and go-getters on how to confidently and competently navigate their toughest conversations without saying something they regret, giving their power away, or damaging their relationships. Her clients include The Home Depot, Starbucks, AT&T, Expedia, Lockheed Martin,, IBM, Wells Fargo, Walmart, and many more. She’s a featured contributor for Entrepreneur magazine, a featured guest on Bloomberg, NBC, Fox, and ABC, and her latest book, The Secrets Leaders Keep, is an Amazon bestseller.

Donna Knapp

Curriculum Development Manager

ITSM Academy

Donna Knapp has more than 30 years of experience in the IT industry and is currently ITSM Academy's curriculum development manager. Donna's years of practical experience and love of learning show in her engaging and informative speaking style and many certifications, including ITIL Expert, Certified Process Design Engineer, DevOps Foundation, Certified Scrum Master, Certified Agile Service Manager, Certified Agile Process Owner and VeriSM Foundation. Donna is the author of The ITSM Process Design Guide: Developing, Reengineering, and Improving IT Service Management, as well as two college textbooks, A Guide to Service Desk Concepts, Fourth Edition and A Guide to Customer Service Skills for Service Desk Professionals, Fourth Edition. Donna is also on the DevOps Institute's Board of Regents.

Session: Session 601: Anatomy of a Value Stream

Michael Kublin

President/CEO

PeopleTek Coaching

Michael W. Kublin is the founder and President of PeopleTek, a leadership coaching and development company specializing in helping leaders, teams, organizations, and cultures achieve their full potential. Michael's vision is world-wide individual, team, and organizational excellence, which he fosters by connecting leaders, teams, and organizations to the coaching, development, and tools they need to be successful. Mike received his MBA from Nova Southeastern University, and he's the author of 12 Steps For Courageous Leadership, The Leadership Journey, and Leadership Journey II: Moving Beyond The Barriers.

Session: Session 306: The Common Denominator Is The Differentiator: Lead Your Culture

Ryan LaMarche

UX Developer

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Ryan LaMarche is a digital transformation and design thinking expert who brings ideas to life with a focus on user experience, and smart system design. When Ryan isn't building systems, he spends his time as a dual-enrolled BS/MS student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute studying computer science and innovation with UX. Ryan is also a founding member and CTO of Seldom Technologies, where he works with companies to develop systems, applications, and websites and consults on process improvement in the ITSM space.

Session: Session 204: Making an Award-Winning Portal the WPI Way

Ryan LaMarche

WPI UXDM

Research Lab

Ryan LaMarche is a digital transformation and design thinking expert that brings ideas to life with a focus on user experience, and smart system design. When Ryan isn't building systems, he spends his time as a dual-enrolled Bachelor's and Master's student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute studying Computer Science and Innovation with UX. Ryan is also a founding member and CTO of Seldom Technologies where he works with companies to develop systems, applications, and websites and consult on process improvement in the ITSM space.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 4: The Data-Driven Design Thinking Process

Jane Leahy

Senior Solution Engineer

Cherwell

Jane Leahy has over 20 years’ experience in IT service and support leadership, ITSM framework strategy and process execution, and technology implementation/administration. Her passion is connecting people with service management strategy, process, and technology that excel in business outcomes, as well as organizational change best practice. Jane is a Senior Solution Engineer at Cherwell Software and is certified in ITIL Foundations V3, HDI Support Center Manager, and KCS Principles. She is also president emeritus of HDI Nebraska.

Session: Building a Successful IT Self Service System

Linda Lenox

Director, IT Support

CURO Financial Technolgoies

Linda Lenox is the director of IT support at CURO Financial Technologies Corp, where she's responsible for a multitiered support organization covering the corporate campus, three call centers, and more than 400 store locations throughout North America. Her 20 years of IT leadership experience includes roles at Cox Communications, Smithfield Foods, and The New York Times Company. She has been recognized with a number of industry awards, including two Best Practice Awards from Technology Managers Forum/PCWeek, and she was named as one of Computerworlds Premier 100 IT Leaders. Linda holds a number of industry certifications, including Project Management Professional and ITIL Expert, and she recently became an HDI Certified Trainer.

Session: Session 405: Don't Sabotage Your ITSM Automation Project!

Pamela Macmillan

US Account Manager

TOPdesk

Session: Solution Spotlight: How to Achieve True Off-Boarding Ease

David Martinez

Senior Product Marketing Specialist

Ivanti

Session: Solutions Spotlight: Overcome Your Tier 1 Support Challenges

Seth Mattison

Internationally Renowned Workforce Strategist and Management Trendspotter

Seth Mattison is an internationally-renowned expert on workforce trends and generational dynamics. As founder and Chief Movement Officer of FutureSight Labs, Seth advises many of the world's leading organizations on the key shifts happening around talent management, change and innovation, leadership, and the future of work. Seth has received accolades from many of the world's best brands, including Microsoft, AT&T, PepsiCo, and GE Energy, to name a few. His ideas have also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and The Globe and Mail.

Sean McClean

Principal Technical Trainer

ServiceNow

Sean McClean holds the designation of Master trainer for one of the world's most innovative technology companies. Sean has been involved with training and implementation of IT Service Management tools and processes for governments, academia, and fortune 500 companies for over two decades. His expertise ranges from technical application implementation and development to IT process. Sean's certifications include ServiceNow (CAD, CSA, CSI(IT), CSI(SIR), etc.), HP (AIS), ITIL (expert V2, V3), Scrum Alliance(ScrumMaster). His contributions to the IT Service Management and Training / Facilitation fields span national and international conference presentations, articles and reviews for organizations such as ZDNet, TFT, SupportWorld, and more.

Session: Session 204: Asset, Governance, and Security Walk into a Bar: Defining and Refining an Asset Management Strategy

Pete McGarahan

Senior Director

First American

Pete McGarahan is the senior director of IT at First American Title Insurance Company, and has won multiple awards as an industry expert and global thought-leader in service management. He is consistently one of the top-rated speakers at HDI, ICMI, other industry events. He is incredibly knowledgeable, and has a true gift for sharing complex information in an engaging and understandable way. Follow Pete on Twitter @PeterJMcGarahan.

Mickey Mentzer

VP of Innovation and Technology

Ascendum

Mickey Mentzer leads technical innovation at Ascendum, both imagining and creating new business models for Fortune 50 companies and startups alike. Mickey has been involved in ideating and developing cutting-edge technologies for more than 20 years. He currently is exploring enterprise solutions in artificial intelligence, bot automation, and distributed ledger (blockchain). As an innovation leader, Mickey focuses on helping his clients navigate the practicalities of corporate innovation at their respective organizations. (Translation: he often talks people out of using blockchain or any other "solve all the worlds problems" hot tech).

Session: Session 305: Creating an Awesome Corporate Culture in the Tech World

Fancy Mills

Director of Training

HDI

Session: Solution Spotlight: How to Optimize Your Service Management

Julie Mohr

Author

Session: Pre-4: Three-Day Workshop: KCS Principles
Pre-4: Three-Day Workshop: KCS Principles
Pre-4: Three-Day Workshop: KCS Principles

Julie Mohr

Author

Session: Pre-4: Three-Day Workshop: KCS Principles
Pre-4: Three-Day Workshop: KCS Principles
Pre-4: Three-Day Workshop: KCS Principles

Julie Mohr

Author

Session: Pre-4: Three-Day Workshop: KCS Principles
Pre-4: Three-Day Workshop: KCS Principles
Pre-4: Three-Day Workshop: KCS Principles

Julie Mohr

Speaker and Author

JulieLMohr.com

Julie Mohr is a dynamic, engaging change agent who brings authenticity, integrity, and passion to practitioners worldwide. Through her books, articles, speaking, consulting, and teaching, her purpose is to spark change in the world with thought-provoking dialogue and interaction. Julie is currently pursuing her PhD in management and organizational leadership in Information Systems & Technology from the University of Phoenix; she received her MEd from the University of Phoenix and her BS in computer science from The Ohio State University. She is an ITIL Expert, Certified Help Desk Director, and Certified Governance IT Professional. Julie captivates audiences at conferences worldwide on topics of authentic leadership, business strategy, knowledge management, organizational culture, and innovation.

Session: Session 304: Living in the Disruption Economy: Our Customers Are Screaming for Change and We're Still Not Listening
Session 606: Knowledge Is the Key to Implementing a Successful Bot Strategy

Brendan Monahan

Solutions Development Director

SAIC

Brendan Monahan has more than 25 years of experience planning, leading, and directing teams in infrastructure and end user solution projects. As a solutions development leader at SAIC, Brendan combines his understanding of business transformations in enterprise IT environments with solution architecture concepts to develop practical business solutions, focusing on artificial intelligence and machine learning, self-healing, intelligent automation, and enhanced self-service portals. He also consults, coaches, and advises SAIC teams on strategy, business alignment, enterprise architecture, IT solutions, and their impact on their customer organizations and their stakeholders. .

Session: Session 206: Creating an Intuitive User Support Experience

Deborah Monroe

Presdent

Ignite Achievements Int'l

Deborah Monroe is one of 18 Master EQ practitioners in the world, through the Global EQ Community of 6 Seconds. She's also an associate with the Institute for Organizational Performance and an HDI business associate. Working with all levels of executive leadership, management, and individual contributors, Deborah concentrates on integrating humans and processes to create a balanced working environment. Her aim is to build understanding and empathy, creating a positive bottom line through employee and customer retention.

Session: Session 407: If it Weren't for These Freaking People: A Deep Dive into the Pool of Relationships

Alan Nance

Managing Partner

CitrusCollab LLP

Alan Nance is Managing Partner of CitrusCollab LLLP. Alan brings a fresh and optimistic approach to business and digital transformation, proven to help enterprises change for growth, built on eXperience Level Agreements (XLA). Alan has successfully deployed technology to ignite growth and performance in complex enterprises like ING Bank, Royal Philips, and Barclays Bank. He was one of the original founding brothers of ITIL, and has written a number of articles and books on service management, including the Essential ISO/IEC 20000 Managers' Executive's Guide.

Session: Session 504: XLAs: The Vital Anchor of Service Management

Anthony Pacitti

IT Manager, End User Experience

Johnson & Johnson

Anthony Pacitti has more than 10 years of experience as an IT professional, all with Johnson & Johnson. Currently he is an IT Manager for End User Experience managing and supporting new technologies with the focus to provide valuable experiences for his global colleagues across the company. Prior to his current responsibilities he spent most of his career in IT Service Catalog Management with considerable experiences in ITSM, data and analytics, project management, process improvement, ServiceNow, user and customer experience. Recently he has been focusing his time on adopting and managing chatbot technologies and advocating further exploration of AI/ML technologies in evaluating/improving the employee IT support experience.

Session: AI and Employee Support: A Match Long Over Due, Learning from Johnson & Johnson's AI Deployment
A Match Long Over Due, Learning from Johnson & Johnson's AI Deployment

Manuel Palachuk

President and Head Coach

Manuel Palachuk International

Manuel is the coach that will take you to the gym, not just send you there! He is the author of the book Getting To The Next Level: A Blueprint For Taking You And Your Business To The Top. He has over 35 years of business, management, and training experience in the computer and electronics industries. He has owned several successful businesses, managed several successful IT and MSP service companies, and coached or mentored many more around the world. Manuel is a thought leader on Agile as applied to Business Strategy and as applied to Service Delivery processes. He is also a well-known author, speaker, and trainer on these subjects at industry conferences and in the IT consulting community for Small and Medium-sized Businesses. He holds degrees in Electrical Engineering Technology and Automated Manufacturing Technology.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 2: Agile Metrics to Turbocharge Service Delivery and CSAT

Manuel Palachuk

President and Head Coach

Manuel Palachuk International

Manuel Palachuk is the author of the book Getting to the Next Level: A Blueprint for Taking You and Your Business to the Top and the coauthor of The Network Migration Workbook, the definitive guide to zero downtime network migrations. He has more than 30 years of business, management, and training experience in the computer and electronics industries, including owning and managing successful IT and managed service provider companies. He's a well-known speaker and trainer at industry conferences, and he holds degrees in electrical engineering technology and automated manufacturing technology.

Session: Session 406: The Culture Imperative: Discover the Cost of Getting It Wrong and Learn How You Can Get It Right

Manuel Palachuk

President and Head Coach

Manuel Palachuk International

Session: Breakfast Briefing 2: Agile Metrics to Turbocharge Service Delivery and CSAT

Manuel Palachuk

President and Head Coach

Manuel Palachuk International

Session: Breakfast Briefing 2: Agile Metrics to Turbocharge Service Delivery and CSAT

Doug Rabold

Owner

Bold Ray Consulting

Doug Rabold is founder of Bold Ray Consulting. He has extensive experience in service management, IT operations, sales, employee development, and employee engagement. A lifelong learner, Doug is a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and holds many other industry certifications, including ITIL Foundations, HDI Problem Management Professional, HDI Technical Support Professional, HDI Support Center Manager, and Knowledge-Centered Support Principles. He was a finalist for the 2018 HDI Manager of the Year Award and the People's Choice Award winner that same year. He's currently serving as a national officer on the Help Desk Chapters, Inc. board and as a member of the Cherwell Customer Advisory Board.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 5: Emergency, 911!: Dealing with Emergency Changes

Kumaravel Ramakrishnan

Director of Marketing

ManageEngine

Session: 6 Ways to Make Your ITSM Wholesome

Barklay Ray

Owner

Barclay Rae Consulting

Barclay Rae is an experienced ITSM mentor and business manager. Over the past twenty-five years, he's worked on approximately 400 ITSM projects; for the past ten years, he's run his own consultancy company, e2e. Barclay advises organizations on their ITSM, mentoring, and business development strategies, focusing on service desks, service level management, and the service catalog. Barclay hosts ITSMTV and the "Service Desk Inspector" series, and he participates in the weekly "ITSM Rest of the World" podcast.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 6: Human, Not Digital, Transformation: The Rise of the Humans

Keplyn Robinson

Consultant

<div>Keplyn Robinson has been in IT service management for over twenty years educating and advising organizations all over the US and Europe. She began her career in radiology software where she quickly realized her love for training. Her dynamic, interactive style of teaching has brought accolades from every level of IT. After gaining her ITIL v3 Expert certification she has worked with many different organizations from higher education and healthcare to government and retail organizations helping guide the design and implementation of best practices that enabled these organizations to meet and exceed their business goals. Throughout her career she has helped certify thousands of professionals in achieving their ITIL foundation and practitioner’s certifications.</div>

Vicki Rogers

ITSM Change Manager Sr.

Georgia Institute of Technology

Vicki Rogers has more than 20 years of experience in service management, change management, and leadership development, helping organizations create service desks, implement ITIL, and insource IT. Vicki is currently completing her doctorate in leadership and organizational development at the University of Georgia, where her research focuses on cultivating and developing women leaders in IT. She's passionate about helping organizations and systems develop and engage people, and she loves hearing and sharing stories because she believes there's always more to learn

Session: Session 104: Teaching an Old Yellow Jacket New Tricks: Adopting Change Management

Jeff Rumburg

Managing Partner

MetricNet, LLC

Jeff Rumburg is the winner of the 2014 Ron Muns Lifetime Achievement Award. As cofounder and CEO of MetricNet, Jeff has been retained as an IT service and support expert by some of the world's largest corporations, including American Express, Hewlett-Packard, General Motors, and IBM. He was formerly CEO of the Verity Group, where he syndicated the industry's first service desk benchmark. Jeff received his MBA from Harvard University. He has also authored A Hands-On Guide to Competitive Benchmarking: The Path to Continuous Quality and Productivity Improvement and taught graduate-level engineering and business courses.

Session: Session 105: What's Your Value Proposition?: An ROI Workshop

Akhil Sahai

Chief Product Officer

Symphony Summit

As chief product officer at Symphony Summit, Dr. Akhil Sahai heads product management and marketing, leveraging more than 20 years of experience in product strategy and management marketing and business development. Previously, he was the chief product officer at LexisNexis. Prior to that, he led early-stage AI/machine learning-based start-up Perspica Inc. to successful acquisition by Cisco, initiated, funded, and managed enterprise-wide solutions programs at HP, and worked in product management at VMWare, where he launched vCloud software. Akhil received his PhD in computer science from INRIA France and his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He holds 17 technical patents, has authored a book, and has written more than 80 peer-reviewed articles.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 3: AI and Automation Are Changing the ITSM Game

Sarah Sanchez

Vice President

SAIC

Sarah Sanchez has more than 25 years of progressive experience in IT. She currently serves as the VP of end user solutions for the Enterprise IT practice at SAIC, where she develops and oversees implementation of innovative technology approaches, including development of service offerings using intelligent automation, self-healing, and artificial intelligence. She's also responsible for ensuring that EUS staff across more than 50 programs meet or exceed service levels, perform within financial objectives, and adhere to quality standards

Session: Session 206: Creating an Intuitive User Support Experience

Colin Saunders

Solutions Engineer

Atlassian

Session: New Ways of Working for High Velocity Teams

Chris Savio

Senior Product Marketing Manager

Bold360 by LogMeIn

Christopher is a Senior Product Marketing Manager for the Bold360 business. Bringing over 12 years of experience, he drives product strategy and the development of go-to-market plans for AI and digital engagement offerings. He’s passionate about using customer-centric approach to help push forward strategic decisions and product innovations.

Session: AI and Employee Support: A Match Long Over Due, Learning from Johnson & Johnson's AI Deployment
A Match Long Over Due, Learning from Johnson & Johnson's AI Deployment

David Schmidt

Principal Solutions Marketing Manager

BMC

David Schmidt is a Principal Solutions Marketing Manager responsible for Cognitive technologies and Enterprise ITSM solutions. As part of the BMC Digital Service and Operations Management organization, Dave brings over 20 years of high tech marketing experience in delivering customer-driven, compelling solutions to the worldwide market. Prior to joining BMC in 2017, Dave held various marketing and technical evangelist roles at Intel, NVIDIA and Silicon Graphics. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in Journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Session: Solution Spotlight: The Future of Service is Cognitive

Lisa Schwartz

CEO

ITSM Academy

Lisa Schwartz is CEO of ITSM Academy, which celebrated its fifteenth anniversary this year, and a managing partner of CitrusCollab. A cofounder of the DevOps Institute (DOI), Lisa is very active in the ITSM, Agile, DevOps, and the now emerging XLA communities. An avid football fan, her personal motto is "There is no traffic jam on the extra mile" (Roger Staubach).

Session: Session 504: XLAs: The Vital Anchor of Service Management

Rudy Seber

Senior Consultant

Forrester

Rudy is a senior consultant on Forrester's North American Strategy consulting practice. Rudy works with leaders to build and optimize their practices — helping clients align technology to meet business goals. Rudy has worked extensively with clients to help them transform their information security programs through the utilization of his areas of expertise, which include security and risk, infrastructure and operations, service management, identity and access management (IAM), change management, cloud, and data center strategy. Prior to joining Forrester, Rudy spent 10 years as a business technology specialist at Boston University. Rudy received his MBA from Boston University; he also holds his ITIL v3 Foundation certification and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

Matt Siefker

Sr. Manager Technical Support

KaVo Kerr

Matt Siefker is currently the senior manager of technical support at KaVo Kerr, where he draws on more than ten years of experience in technical support, field service, verification, and validation. Matt received his BS in computer science and infrastructure from UNLV and holds many additional certifications, including ISA/IEC Cybersecurity, CEH, and MCSE. In his current role, Matt is a champion of internal Lean management tools, including Daily Management, 5S, TPI, and Kaizen, to name just a few.

Session: Session 404: Leggo My Lego!: An Exciting Way to Learn and Apply Lean Management

Carla Smith

Change Manager

Emory Healthcare

Carla Smith has more than 15 years of IT experience in various roles, including project management, application support, process management, development, and management/leadership. She's currently the change manager for Emory Healthcare, where she developed a strategic plan, training, policies, procedures, and workflows that have been widely adopted in a culturally diverse environment.

Session: Session 303: The Recipe for Implementing a Great Change Management Process

Kevin Smith

SVP

IVANTI

With degrees in chemical engineering and computer science, Kevin spent the first 10 years of his career at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, working in Mission Operations for the Space Shuttle Program. For the past 15 years, he's worked with Ivanti (formerly HEAT software), advising market-leading IT organizations on strategy, business process design, and leveraging software solutions to help IT perform better. Kevin is the author of The Practical Guide to World-Class IT Service Management, The IT Imperative, and One IT, One Business.

Session: Session 205: A New Service Management Partnership: Humanity and AI

Scott Standen

Principal IT expert

European Central Bank

Scott Standen is a recognized leader with in-depth experience in service management and IT governance-related topics, from design through implementation. He's enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and his presentations are known for their hands-on, implementable advice, delivered in a down to earth and pragmatic manner.

Session: Session 302: Real-Life and Applied Enterprise Service Management

Jamie Stannard

Director, North America Imaging Technical Support

KaVo Kerr

A twenty-plus-year veteran of the technical support industry, Jamie Stannard is currently the director of North America Imaging Technical Support at KaVo Kerr. He received his MBA from Kennesaw State University; he's also achieved his Master Black Belt in TPI and is a certified HDI Support Center Director with additional certifications in KCS Principles and Support Center Manager. Jamie joined the HDI community in 2000 and is currently the VP, Finance for the Atlanta local chapter and district president for Region 3.

Session: Session 404: Leggo My Lego!: An Exciting Way to Learn and Apply Lean Management

James Taylor

Award-Winning Entrepreneur and Internationally Recognized Leader in Creativity and Innovation

James Taylor is an award-winning speaker and internationally recognized leader in creativity and innovation. As the founder of C.SCHOOL™ and host of "The Creative Life" podcast and TV show, he's positively impacted hundreds of thousands of individuals in over 120 countries. James designed a framework for creativity that helps individuals and organizations achieve exponential growth. His clients have included Apple, Yamaha, Sony, and Johnson & Johnson. James is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the recipient of both The Modern ONTRApreneur Award and the S.D. Southern Award.

Doug Tedder

Principal Consultant

Tedder Consulting LLC

Doug Tedder

Principal Consultant

Doug Tedder is the principal of Tedder Consulting LLC, a Service Management and IT Governance consultancy. Doug is a recognized thought leader who is equally adept in interactions from senior leadership to day-to-day practitioners. Doug's passion is helping and inspiring IT organizations not just to be good, but to be great. His attention to detail, industry knowledge, emotional intelligence, and the ability to "see the big picture" and make it actionable has resulted in a track record of success in transforming IT organizations into valued business leaders. Doug holds numerous industry certifications in disciplines ranging from ITIL®, COBIT®, Lean IT, DevOps, KCS™, VeriSM™, and Organizational Change Management. Doug was recognized as an "IT Industry Legend" by Cherwell Software in 2016, and named to HDI's "Top 25 Thought Leaders in Technical and Service Management" for 2018. Doug is an author, blogger, and frequent speaker and contributor at local industry user group meetings, webinars, and national conventions. Doug is a member and former president of itSMF USA, a member of HDI, a contributing author to VeriSM™, and co-author of the VeriSM™ Pocket Guide. Follow Doug on Twitter (@dougtedder) or visit his website (dougtedder.com).

Session: Pre-5: Service Management Optimization
Pre-5: Service Management Optimization

Doug Tedder

Principal Consultant

Session: Pre-5: Service Management Optimization
Pre-5: Service Management Optimization

Doug Tedder

Principal Consultant

Session: Pre-5: Service Management Optimization
Pre-5: Service Management Optimization

John Thompson

Associate Director

Greater Toronto Airports Authority

John Thompson is the associate director of information services delivery at the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. An IT professional with over fifteen years of information systems experience gained with leading employers in the hospitality and construction sector, John is regarded as highly strategic in defining technology vision and leading project execution to deliver leading edge technology, enabling streamlined operations and exceptional customer service.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 3: AI and Automation Are Changing the ITSM Game

Diana Tullio

Senior Director, Strategy and Architecture

HBR Consulting

Diana Tullio is the senior director of strategy and architecture at HBR Consulting Managed Services. She received her MBA in global management from the University of Phoenix and her BS in computer science from the University of Georgia. Diana spent 23 years with NCR in various roles, ultimately serving as the chief of staff to the CIO; she later served as the CIO for Standard Register/Taylor Communications. Diana has provided consulting services, specializing in technology strategy and roadmap development helping organizations to align their business strategies with the most appropriate technology approaches. Her focus is helping clients with strategic initiatives including digital and IT transformation, roadmaps, due diligence, mentoring, and coaching. Diana also serves on the advisory board for Wright State's MIS and Supply Chain Management school, where she is also an adjunct professor. In 2015, she received the first IT Hero award presented by InfoWeek and InterOp at their annual conference in Las Vegas.

Session: Session 201: IT4IT Is IT 4 CIOs

Ruben van der Graaf

International IT Support Manager

Kramp Group BV

Ruben van der Graaf is International IT Support Manager at Kramp Groep BV, Europe's largest technical agricultural wholesaler. Ruben is a down-to-earth, natural leader who believes that success derives from teamwork, engagement, and passion. He has a passion for customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, and IT governance, and he believes that what's good today can be better tomorrow.

Session: Session 502: Shift-Left: An Underestimated Strategy for Service Management

Suzanne Van Hove

CEO

SED-IT

Dr. Suzanne Van Hove has successfully blended an award-winning career in higher education with a passion for service management. As a lead author for VeriSM: A Service Management Approach for the Digital Age and VeriSM: Unwrapped and Applied, she continues to push the development of service management across the entire organization, as well as advocating a hybrid approach to service delivery. Suzanne represents the United States within the International Standards Community and is the convenor for SC40 Working Group 2. She also teaches as an adjunct professor at Indiana University and Algebra University in Croatia. In 2013, Suzanne was presented with the itSMF USA Lifetime Achievement in Service Management Award and, in 2018, was named as a Top 25 Thought Leader in Service and Support by HDI.

Session: Session 102: Fishing for GREAT Service Delivery? Hook VeriSM's Management Mesh!

Keelyn VanderWeide

Knowledge Management Leader

Varian Medical Systems

Keelyn VanderWeide, Knowledge Management Leader at Varian Medical Systems, has had the pleasure of working in service management for over 10 years. She holds multiple KCS Certifications, and, as a self-proclaimed Knowledge Management Nerd, Keelyn loves nothing more than to spread the word of KCS and to help others achieve their KCS goals.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 1: Knowledge-Centered Success!: An Interactive KCS Implementation Guide

Andrew Vollaro

VP, Service Delivery

Webster bank

Andrew Vollaro is currently the VP of service delivery at Webster Bank. An experienced senior leader with 25 years of experience, Andrew is responsible for implementing and managing IT processes to deliver IT services that successfully align IT mission and priorities with corporate goals and objectives. He has a proven track record of translating business needs into technology solutions that support company and department objectives, building, leading, and managing cross-functional teams, and planning and exceeding financial/budget objectives and goals.

Session: Session 607: ITSM: A Cultural Conversion to Process

Jenine Wech

Agile Transformation Coach

RightStar

An experienced instructor, mentor, coach, and disruptive force, Jenine Wech has worked across multiple industries and organizations large and small; challenging leadership, teams, and individuals to embrace a culture of innovation, flow, and relentless improvement. She helps those who are knee deep in ‘alphabet soup’ - fighting to breathe through the smoke and flames of ‘framework wars’ - to emerge victorious. With certification and experience in PMBOK®, ITIL®, SAFe®, CMMi®, ADDIE® and SAM®, Jenine has helped practitioners across ITSM, SDLC, DevOps, PMO, CoE, ISD and IT put tools and practices into place to triage, vision, plan, execute, and manage transformative change. Jenine currently works at RightStar as a consultant for ITSM and scaled lean-agile practices creating springboard ‘ah-ha!’ moments from immersive game-play in simulations such as MarsLander2®.

Ken Wendle

Author, Consultant, Instructor

Edify ITSM, Inc.

<div>Ken Wendle, known for his pragmatic and insightful advice, whether as instructor, consultant, or speaker, is a cofounder and past president of the itSMF USA and past member of the HDI Strategic Advisory Board. Ken is recognized for his pivotal role in creating awareness, adoption, and global expansion of ITIL and ITSM best practices. He is the author of numerous white papers and articles, and his entertaining presentations have been enjoyed nationally and internationally. Ken is also the only person (thus far) to have received two prestigious industry awards: the itSMF USA Lifetime Achievement Award (2007) as well as the HDI Ron Muns Lifetime Achievement Award (2016). </div>

Session: Breakfast Briefing 4: Leverage Is the Way to More Value!

Ken Wendle

Author, Consultant, Instructor

Edify ITSM, Inc.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 4: Leverage Is the Way to More Value!

Ken Wendle

Author, Consultant, Instructor

Edify ITSM, Inc.

Author, speaker, consultant, and instructor – Ken Wendle has been a key figure in the business of service and support since, well, the Jurassic Period. Ken holds the unique honor of being the recipient of two prestigious industry honors: the HDI Ron Muns Lifetime Achievement Award and the itSMF USA Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his essential efforts in creating awareness, adoption and expansion of service and support best practices within the USA and globally. Ken helped launch the itSMF USA national event in 2001 (and holds the record of being a featured speaker for 17 consecutive) and helped launch the Service Management World event in 2018. Ken also recently released a new book, The V*A*L*U*E Formula.

Session: Session 605: The V*A*L*U*E Formula: 5 Elements to Maximize Value

Ken Wendle

Author, Consultant, Instructor

Edify ITSM, Inc.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 4: Leverage Is the Way to More Value!

Dan Wilson

Senior Director, End User Computing

Hertz

Dan Wilson is a tech-savvy leader with more than 20 years of experience leading IT services, infrastructure, and operations teams. He's passionate about helping organizations exploit IT as a business enabler, with a keen interest in the organizational and human impact of change. Dan received his MBA from the University of Michigan; he's also holds HDI Support Center Manager and ITIL Foundations certifications. Outside of work, Dan is an Ironman triathlete and father of three.

Session: Breakfast Briefing 2: ITSM: You're Doing It Wrong!